My husband is an avid player of Rock Band for the Xbox 360, and as he was navigating the song list, I noticed a song by Aerosmith called “Train Keep a Rollin.” Now while I was alive in the 70′s, I don’t remember the 70′s at all, so I told my husband to play that song so I could hear it — I’m an Aerosmith fan. At least I thought I was until I heard that song. It was awful and, I found out later, a cover of an original Yardbirds song. Why would anyone want to cover it?
I decided that I must be a fan of 80′s to present day Aerosmith then because if that was a sample of their 70′s music I was definitely not a fan. So, I did some research on Aerosmith to find out when I had started liking them. I had no idea that “Sweet Emotion”, and “Walk this Way” (I like the version with Run DMC best) were from their mainstream breakthrough album, Toys in the Attic which was released in 1975 — before I was born. I found out I liked ‘70′s Aerosmith too.
Reading about the band was interesting. I didn’t know Joe Perry ever had left the band. And they didn’t do that well when he left in ’79 followed by Brad Whitford in ’81 due to alcohol and drug abuse, but in 1984 Aerosmith sobered up and they returned releasing Permanent Vacation in 1987, which is when they surfaced on my radar. Their comeback is described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock ‘n’ roll history.
With a little more delving into Aerosmith and their past I was horrified to find that one of my favorite songs, “Dream On,” was on the same album that featured the worst song they’ve ever done, bar none (yes, “Train Keep a Rollin”).
